Labor and Delivery

I have been meaning to post the events (not too gory) of the birth of our second son. It was almost a dream. It was honestly almost a perfect labor and delivery---almost exactly the way I had hoped it would go. I just wish I could have waited like 2 or 3 more days. I'm glad he came when he did, though.

Wednesday started out as the typical day at work. I began realizing, however, that my contractions were beginning to be a little more different. They were becoming more consistent and definitely heavier. I know that I had said these things before, but something was just "different." By the end of 5th period (2-2.30pm). My contractions were consistently 6-10 min. apart and had been for awhile and getting stronger. I was supposed to go to the chiropractor at 4pm, but I called them and asked if I could come in a little later. I had a feeling I might not make it to school on Thursday. I started getting everything together and laid out for Thursday and Friday. I informed the teacher next door to me that "I might not be here tomorrow," and showed him where a few things were. I was honestly expecting to make it to next week. Thankfully, my mentor and fellow 7th English teacher was still there after school and stopped to check in. I told her how I was feeling, and she (being the mom of 3 boys) assured me that I was going to go soon. Wednesday was also the day that she had chosen in the pool at school for our little boy's arrival date. Anywho, I filled her in on my plans, and she told me not to worry that she would take care of everything else. Thanks, Mrs. M! You really help put my mind at ease.

I was able to leave the school about 4:30pm, feeling more and more certain that I would not make it into school the next morning. I got home and called the chiropractor again to cancel. They offered to see me tomorrow. I declined, and they got excited that I was in labor. Since it was Wednesday, we were planning to go to church for Bible Study. I was still planning on going at that point. I made an executive decision, though. This would probably be the last chance I got to eat out with only one son and no crying baby. We went out to Brooklyn's for some pizza. It was good, but my contractions were getting MUCH stronger, and my body ran the food straight through me. It knew that I needed to be cleaned out for delivery. I told Daniel that we weren't going to Bible study and that we would be going to the hospital at some point this evening. We played at home with Malachi. Daniel went out to run a last minute errand, and I put Malachi to bed (knowing this would be the last time as a Mom of one). I then took a shower, so I would feel as clean as possible for the arrival. Daniel got home, and I laid down in the bed to rest. My contractions were about 6 min. apart at this point. They were definitely too intense to sleep through, but I did dose off once or twice in between the frequency of them.

A little after 10pm, my water broke and continued to leak out. I had called the doctor on call earlier. She told me if my water broke to come in. I told Daniel, and he began to pack his stuff in the suitcase while I walked around. Your water breaking definitely makes the contractions worse. We left about 10:45pm, and left Grammy and Grandpa in charge of a sleeping Malachi.

We arrived at the hospital at about 11pm. I told them I was in labor. They didn't seem too thrilled to see me. They asked if my water broke, and I said, "yes." They immediately were interested and whisked me back to the bathroom where a nurse checked to make sure that it was my water breaking. We bypassed the initial check rooms and went straight to a delivery room. I was changing into a gown, and they were shooting off quesitons for the check-in process. The nurses checked me first since the doc wasn't in yet. I was 7-8 cent. I laid down in the bed with the monitors on. The contractions were getting unbearable, but I didn't want an epidural yet, and none of us thought there would be enough time anyways. I got some pain med. to take the edge off the contractions and waited through. The nurse told me to let them know if I felt the need to push. They still figured I had a few hours to go. There was still fluid in my "water sac" which the doctor finished breaking when she arrived.

Since I had a long, drawn out labor with Malachi and an epidural, the pains of childbirth were totally new to me. At about 11:40pm I rather painfully yelled that I needed to push. The doc and nurses ran in and told me to go ahead. I was doing it anyways, so they wasted their breath. As they were getting everything ready, I looked at the clock and it was 11:45. I commented on how this little one might make it today. The nurse assured me that he wouldn't. I pushed two more times with Daniel and a nurse holding my legs. Out he came at 11:54pm. I kept saying, "Hallelujah" and "Praise the Lord." It was by far a much better delivery than the first. It was more painful, but it was much faster and better. Plus we saved a ton of money on not getting the epidural.

The nurses didn't tell us at the time, but Ezekiel wasn't breathing. The cord had been wrapped around his head somewhere. Daniel saw the doc move it. We didn't hear him cry for several minutes, but they never told us anything was wrong to keep us calm. He finally cried after having a tube shoved down his throat. How amazing is our God! He protected our little man. I got to hold him for a few minutes before they took him out to be bathed and watched. He had pooped ahead of time like his brother. I was so exhausted that I was shaking all over. After being stitched up, I tried to sleep with visitors coming in and out of the room. It didn't bother me that my baby was still in the nursery due to my exhaustion. He came to our room about 3pm and the fun began.

Thanks to the Boppy for allowing me to cuddle my baby and type with two hands while he was napping. What a wonderful invention!